A Journey's Ending...

Ready??

I GOT MY YW RECOGNITION AWARD!

I am so happy! 

So here is a recap of my Value Projects, if you guys need ideas (and a huge thank you to all the YW I know who suggested great projects that they did that inspired me!).

FAITH:

I memorized 'The Living Christ'! So cool! My testimony of the Savior and His life was really strengthened and solidified through this.

 

DIVINE NATURE:

I organized, coordinated, and participated in an annual Christmas Cousin Gift Exchange on both sides of my family. I was able to start it for the first time on my dad's side, and continue the tradition on my mom's side!

INDIVIDUAL WORTH:

Family History! I was able to do ten awesome hours of searching for and reserving names and performing or sharing ordinances for my ancestors! Throughout this project, I visited the Jordan River, Mt. Timpanogos, and Draper Utah temples, as well my 'home' temple, Columbia South Carolina.

KNOWLEDGE:

I read D&C 89 and committed to ten hours of exercise and preparing a healthy snacks and meals for myself. Many summer evenings, I'd grab my brother and a cousin or two and walk, run, scooter, or bike around the block for 20-30 minutes. And I ate lots of salad!!! :)

CHOICE & ACCOUNTABILITY:

I took a week-long tech vacation! This was an interesting one and harder than I expected. Even though I don't have a phone, tablet, or iPod, I was still tempted. For example, the TV show Granite Flats (which is, btw, phenomenal, and produced by BYUtv) is premiering on TV and my siblings and I were anxiously awaiting its release. However, because of my project, I had to be able to suggest not watching the new episode. That was probably the hardest moment throughout the week. (I have caught up on all the episodes now!) I stayed away from tech for the majority of the week, but I must admit to giving in for a total of probably 1 1/2 hours. But we are all human, right? Anyway, I spent the time I would have used on technology to get more sleep, read, or finish schoolwork. It was so cool! 

GOOD WORKS:

All right, I really loved this one! I put together a recipe book of my favorite recipes, as well as others I've never tried that sound great! I still have lots of room for more as I grow up, but I have enough to give me a start. This is one way to ensure that my future college student self and her roommates won't be eating Chinese takeout every night! :) I think it will also be awesome for a mission. 

INTEGRITY:

You saw this, but I'll link to the post here:

Integrity, YW in Excellence, and Things People Hang on Their Walls!!!

VIRTUE:

I also posted about my reading of the Book of Mormon here. I love this book!!!

So, there's my Young Women's journey for you, project by project! Please tell me about yours in the comments, whether completed long ago or not yet through. I'd love to hear from you! 

Special Edition: Girls' Camp Day One

I got home from Girls' Camp on Saturday, but we've been having Internet problems lately, so this is the soonest I've been able to post.

Girls' Camp is awesome!!! If you've been, you know what I'm talking about. If not, you are truly missing out!!!

At 6:00 am, my alarm clock shrieked its horrible shriek, and I said my prayers and hurried to the bathroom and got ready. After eating a cup of yogurt in literally twenty seconds, I had a prayer with my parents and my mom drove me to the church. 

Three hours, lots of snacks, and one movie later, we arrived at camp, whose theme this year was 'There's No Place Like Home' (think Dorothy, the Wizard of Oz, Yellow Brick Road). After checking in with the stake leaders and receiving our camp shirts, schedule, and program, we located our cabin and were greeted by a large banner. The YCLs and fourth years, who had gone up the day before for High Adventure, had left a beautiful banner welcoming us to our first year of girls camp! It was so cool and sweet of them!!!!

We claimed our beds and put on our stake shirts over swimsuits, and went to flag ceremony. There, the second years raised the flag on the pole, led us in the Pledge of Allegiance, and the stake YW presidency welcomed us to camp. Next, we adjourned to the 'Emerald City', a pavilion of sorts that had green walls on 2 1/2 sides. We took ward pictures with our 'flag', a cardboard cutout of a high-heeled shoe (like Dorothy's slippers) that we'd covered in red-tinted pictures of us on one side and on the other a yellow brick road with the sky above it and fancy white letters that read, "It may take more than a few heel clicks...But there's no place like home." Attached to strings extending from the top of the shoe was a rectangular white piece of cardboard that said in red glitter letters, "One Size Fits All". It was adorable! After the picture, it was hung with the other ward flags in the rafters of the Mess Hall. 

Lunch was next, and we all ate a meal that we had packed at home and brought ourselves. Then we had 'Level Time', where we played several different get-to-know-you games with the other first levels. By the time we were done, we knew every one of the 27 first level girls in our stake! 

By now, everyone was sweating in the 90+ degree humid heat, and we were all grateful to jump into the cool blue water of the pool! We had pool time for an hour and a half, then hiked to the lake. We had an hour and a half there as well. That hour and a half included a canoe ride, being pushed off the dock, a seaweed fight, and more! When it was time to go, I found that my ward had accidentally left me! Oops! So I hitchhiked back with three different groups till I finally found my cabin. We spent our free time at the camp store stocking up on cheap junk food or just lounging in the cabin. 

After the lowering of the flag, we went inside to the mess hall and enjoyed the best baked potatoes I had ever tasted, as well as a generous slice of red velvet cake slathered in cream cheese frosting. (The food the entire time was amazing!!!)

Fireside songs and a little introduction to the theme at the Emerald City were followed by the 'Destiny' Program. We watched a half-hour film created entirely by members of the stake, including five from our own ward. It was a remake of the Wizard of Oz, but with spiritual symbolism instead. The stake president has his own movie studio and does videos and things for fun, but this was his first film. Also, two of my little sisters were in it as munchkins! Here is the YouTube link: "There's No Place Like Home".

Ward time may have been my favorite part of the entire day! All 20 of our young women, plus leaders, sat in a circle in the larger of our two cabins and played classic camp games. Then the stake YW leaders stopped by and gave us a short devotional and some candy before we all split up and went to our cabins to read scriptures, say prayers, sing, and eventually fall asleep! 

Stay tuned for the rest of my camp adventures!

The Difference Between Digital and Analog...

I am so embarrassed. 

The Young Women in our ward were assigned to clean the church building this morning at 9 a.m. I stayed up until 11 p.m. last night and was ready to drop by the time I got to bed. I was understandably worried that I was going to sleep through the whole cleaning, so I slept in my clothes and reminded my body to wake me up A.S.A.P. It did, so I rolled over and looked at my all-the-way-across-the-room-from-me analog clock with very bleary eyes.  

It read 8:30. 

Or so I thought.

I also thought, Perfect, just enough time to eat and get Mom up to drive me there. So I got up, put on my shoes and socks, and went downstairs. The digital clock stared me in the face:

It read 7:37. 

Dang it. 

So, I am sitting here writing this blog post and waiting for my dear digital clock to say 8:30 and for my analog clock to also say 8:30. I suppose what I'm really waiting for is a digital clock in my room.

See you when the clock strikes--wait, I don't have a grandfather clock. *Adding grandfather clock to grocery list*

See you later, then! (And sadly, because I don't think Wal-Mart carries grandfather clocks, I won't have one by the next post.)

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Know Before You Go...To a Litter Pickup in the Rain

In a post written a couple of weeks ago, I wrote that in the near future I would have two opportunities to complete Good Works Elective Experience #6:

Spend at least three hours giving service outside your family. Ask your ward or branch Relief Society president or a community leader for suggestions for service. For example, you might take care of children while parents attend the temple; collect, make, or recondition toys or games for a nursery; accept an assignment to clean the meetinghouse; or perform errands for or read to a homebound person or others in need. Record in your journal the reactions of the person you served and possible goals for future service opportunities.

On Tuesday, March 31, the Young Women of our ward went to an orphan relief organization and helped them for two hours in their distribution center. We sorted clothes, hung them up or folded them, restocked shelves, and hauled boxes. It was a fun activity and everyone loved the feel of serving.

Yesterday was our town's annual 'Day of Service', which our ward participated in. We were assigned to do a litter pickup at several parks in the area. Our group found some pretty odd things, namely, dozens of zip-ties, a bunch of blue confetti, a $1 coin in a plastic Easter egg, and cat food bowls, just to name a few. 

Oh, and did I mention that it rained? Only lightly, but the ground was a bit muddy, and my shoes and socks were instantly soaked at the toes. Plus, it is apparently gnat season right now, and everyone was swatting at flies. In fact, I found a dead bug in my ear a few hours later!

All in all, it was fantastic service, and I enjoyed it. I hope that everyone gets to have an opportunity to do service and feel the joy it brings!!!

Embark!

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A Blast From the Past

1915 Beehive Handbook

Note: This is an essay I wrote recently entitled "Young Women Resources and Activities: Then and Now".

        Have you ever wondered about the beginnings of our modern-day Young Women organization? The roots of Personal Progress, Young Women’s camp, how it all came to be? Here are the answers and a few interesting facts.
In late 1869, Brigham Young established the original core and purpose of the Young Women program when he asked the girls and women of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints to “reform from extravagance and live more simply” (Timeline). Just six and a half months later, the Young Ladies’ Department of the Ladies’ Cooperative Retrenchment Association was formally organized for the teenaged girls in the Church. The girls involved with this association committed to dress and live modestly and set an example of “gospel living worthy of imitation” (Timeline). They later changed the name of this organization to the Young Ladies' Mutual Improvement Association, or the YLMIA, and gained their first president in 1880, Sister Elmina S. Taylor. 
Today, our version of the YLMIA is the Young Women program. We still believe in setting a good, modest example for the rest of the world. This is exemplified by our modern motto and logo—a torch symbolizing that we ‘stand for truth and righteousness’. The teenage girls of the Church continue to set an ideal of a modest, gospel lifestyle through our current Young Women organization. 
Young Women Camp, or Girls’ Camp, has also changed since it first began in 1912. Actually, the purpose hasn’t changed, but specifics of things such as the certification requirements and money-raising have. 
In 1912, the first stake to participate in a Church summer camp for girls was the Liberty Stake in Salt Lake City, Utah. They built their own camp, called Liberty Glen. The construction cost was a whopping $365.27—and they had to earn it all. The YLMIA participated in multiple fundraisers, from fireside entertainment to activities in the Deseret Gymnasium, so they could earn money for this new idea. Most stakes now take part in fundraisers as well. Some of the modern fundraisers commonly used for Girls’ camp include yard sales/garage sales, bake sales, talent shows, car washes, etc., etc. 
Another similarity between camp back then and camp now is camp certification. An article on lds.org has a list of some of the camp requirements that were in the 1915 Beehive Handbook:

>Identify 15 trees and describe them.
>Describe 10 butterflies; identify them.
>Build a tree house for 2 girls to sleep in.
>Start a fire without matches or fire.
>Describe the seagulls and their habits; tell of their historical importance                           in Utah. 
>Know what to do for a person whose clothing is on fire; for someone who is in                   deep water and cannot swim, either in summer or through ice in winter; for                     an open cut; for a frosted foot; for fainting.
>Select a location and erect a tent.
>During the week, keep your tent in order. (Camp Skills)

Some of the present first year requirements include things like studying the scriptures daily for fifteen minutes while at camp, learning to extinguish fires, and cooking at least two things over a fire. 
Many of these current requirements aren’t too different from what they were in 1912 or 1915. Even though modern Young Women camps have things like plumbing and electricity, the goal of camp is still to use God’s creation as the classroom for learning useful skills and building strong testimonies while still young. Girls Camp is a wonderful tradition of Young Women that has endured for over a century and hopefully will continue for many more years.
Personal Progress is a staple of the Young Women organization today and provides a recognition system for teenage girls. It has eight values, with experiences and a project for each. Its predecessor, The Beehive Handbook, had seven fields of personal achievement, much like our values.  However, instead of Faith, Divine Nature, Individual Worth, Knowledge, Choice and Accountability, Good Works, Integrity, and Virtue, The Beehive Handbook contained requirements in the categories of Religion, Home, Health, Domestic Arts, Out of Doors, Business, and Public Service. Some of the requirements in the 1915 booklet included things such as:

>Care successfully for a hive of bees for one season and know their habits.
>During two weeks, keep the house free from flies, or destroy at least 25 flies daily.
>Mend six pairs of stockings, two knitted undergarments, and hem six dish- towels.
>Without help or advice, care for and harness a team at least five times [and] drive 50 miles during one season. (History)

Not quite the same as the experiences or projects in the current Personal Progress book, but it was perfectly suited to the girls of the early 20th century. They needed to know things such as harnessing and driving a team of horses, whereas 21st century young women benefit from experiences like Faith Experience # 2, which talks about the importance of motherhood and womanhood. These are principles that are often misunderstood by teenage girls in our day, though in the early 1900s were obvious and easy to take in. 

Many resources and activities for the Young Women of the Church today have evolved from those of the early YLMIA. While the world has changed, and with it, a few specifics from these resources, the purpose remains the same for each: To grow in understanding of the gospel and build strong testimonies that will stand forever in the hearts of faithful women. 

Works Cited

Timeline of Young Women History, LDS.org (https://www.lds.org/callings/young-women/leader-resources/history/timeline-of-young-women-history?lang=eng)

Celebrate by Learning Camp Skills, LDS.org (https://www.lds.org/youth/article/celebrate-by-learning-camp-skills?lang=eng)

History of Young Women Recognition, LDS.org (https://www.lds.org/callings/young-women/leader-resources/history/history-of-young-women-recognition?lang=eng)

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Getting Started

Hi! I'm new in the blogging world, but I'm jumping in with both feet and I hope I can make some difference by doing this. 

I am writing about Personal Progress, but I am not going to write the following: Personal Progress is a program for Young Women who need to get a necklace before they turn eighteen by using this pink book as a strict manual. I am definitely not going to write that. Because that's not what Personal Progress is. It's about more than just the necklace. 

Usually, I'm going to post about things I'm doing for my Personal Progress, how they are making a difference in my life, and how Personal Progress can help other Young Women, too. 

But please note that at the beginning of that last sentence I put the word usually. Sometimes there may be nothing new to write about in my Personal Progress. I might be doing the same thing for three weeks, depending on what I'm working on. And you don't want the same post three times! 

I'm also planning on writing about other aspects of being a Young Woman and about things I'm learning or studying about pertaining to the gospel in general. The gospel is great! I love it, and it would be very hard for me to NOT write about it! 

I'm excited to see you embarking on this journey of Personal Progress with me! I look forward to many wonderful adventures and experiences together!

Annalee